Sri Brahmachaithanya Pravachan-July.27

Beg, if You Must, Only of Rama

Every action in life, even our very living, should be for Rama. Rama should, in fact, be for us like the mother to a child, like the father to a grown up, like the loving husband to a woman, a considerate employer to a servant, a trusted confidant to a friend. Come one, come all, to Gondavale and learn to feel it. Saguna bhakti alone can teach the common man and woman to realize the omnipresence of God, and how to live constantly in Him. We should try and see His hand, His will, in everything that happens in the world. In fact, having done our duty according to the best of our lights, whatever ensues should be welcomed as His will. One who has this conviction, this faith, will be unperturbed, undaunted by pleasant and unpleasant happenings in life. Realizing that Rama is the real doer of everything, ascribe all doership to Him and completely annul your ego. What can Rama lack? He is the Lord of everything; what can you ask for and He be unable to give? So beg, if you must, only of Him; He may or may not grant it, as He deems fit. Whatever He chooses to give in His wisdom, accept without demur and with a contented heart. Never ask anybody else anything, for, thereby we belittle our ideal, our God, our devotion. Of course, if somebody voluntarily offers anything, we should not refuse to accept it. Throughout my life I adopted no sadhana other than nama. Nama is what my own sadguru gave me, and I give nama to anybody who comes to me. And I assure you that you will not fail to attain God if you dedicate your tongue to nama. Employ your tongue in continually, saying 'Rama,' 'Rama'. I can vouch from personal experience that the soul's salvation rests in nama; so let every man and woman keep uttering it. Back every effort with the foundation support of devotion to the Almighty. Chant nama ceaselessly to keep you ever mindful that whatever you do has God for its goal. These times are really degenerate when the majority in society, even the respectable ones, give themselves up to sensuous, even lewd pleasures, and throw all scruples to the wind to obtain them. However, those who live in nama can rest assured of survival. So cease running after social applause and so-called respectability and live in love of the Lord. Ascribe all doership to Him and live in quiet and peace. * * * * *

Sri Maharaj's Pravachan in Marathi-July27

गोंदावलेकर श्री ब्रह्मचैतन्य महाराज यांची प्रवचन  

Sri Maharaj's Pravachan in Marathi-July 27

गोंदावलेकर श्री ब्रह्मचैतन्य महाराज यांची प्रवचन  

Sri Maharaj's Pravachan in Kannada-July 28

Sri Maharaj's Pravachan in Kannada-July 27

Marathi Pravachan - July 26

श्री  ब्रह्मचैतन्य महाराज यांची प्रवचन 

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Sri Brahmachaithanya Pravachan-July.26

The Four Aspects of Sadhana

The shastras describe four aspects of sadhana. The first is, discrimination between the eternal and the terminable. One should be apathetic toward the terminable, and solicitous about the eternal, that is, God. Next, one should empty the mind of all desire for enjoyment of sensuous pleasures of the world or even of heaven. The mind has a vagrant nature and seeks one worldly pleasure after another; it should be forcibly restrained and applied to God. We should bear with patience even undeserved trouble, trust in the word of the sadguru, keep calm contentment towards both pleasant and unpleasant happenings in life; this is the third aspect of sadhana. Lastly, there should be an intense yearning for God. If a seeker is equipped with this fourfold approach, then and then alone can he realize the Ultimate Truth. What is required is complete detachment from all expectation, complete apathy, passionless, non-expectant outlook on existence. Avarice for money, lust and temptation of any kind, should be foreign to the mind.
To lead worldly life with efficiency and success is not the goal of human life; this is, after all, what animals, too, may achieve. The true goal is to realize God, the Ultimate Reality. All the toilsome labours of life can only be called truly fructified if man succeeds in realizing God. In the present times no means are so practicable and effective as nama-smarana. Nama, indeed, is all-powerful, and one who has it at heart, while he may not always succeed materially, will ever find himself backed by God. Success and failure in worldly life have only passing value and effect; what really matters is the extent and continuity of awareness of God.
The pleasure and pain that comes to one's lot are, in the ultimate analysis, apportioned to us by Rama; we, however, realize this only at the end, after having gone through and been affected by the vicissitudes of life. Let us bear this in mind right from the start; this can be achieved by nama-smarana.
It is the way of life that, even as we are heaving a sigh of relief at a pleasing occurrence, the moment of despair is in the formation. A wise man should therefore keep his mind engrossed in nama-smarana and equably accept the thick with the thin. Remember that Rama never fails to back one who keeps himself engrossed in nama-smarana.

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